Kite.



S. J. CONYNE.

KITE.

' APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 1o. 190e.

1,005,810. Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. J. GONYNE. KITE. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 10. 1908.

1,005,810, v Patnted 0ot.17,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@2260@ ed, I

www @m same, such as will enable others skilled inA SILAS J'. CONYNE, 0FCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

KITE.

Specieation of Letters Patent.4

Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

Application led August 10, 1908. Serial No. 447,813.

To all whom it may concem: f

Be it known that I, SILAs J. CONYNE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented acertain new and yuseful Improvement in Kites, and declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, reference bein had to theaecompanying drawings, whic form a part of this specication.

'My invention has for its object to reduce a kite which combineslightness wit great lifting power.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for edectivelybalancing a kite lwithout materially increasing the weight of the kiteabove the weight of the 'parts which exert the lifting power.

A further object of my invention is to produce a kite which shall `besimple in construction, cheap, durable, and efficient in operation. v

The various features of novelty lwhereby my invention is characterizedwill be hereinafter pointed out with particularity in the claims; butfor a full understanding of my invention and of its various objects andadvantages, reference is to be had to the lfollowing detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a kite arranged in accordance with oneform of my invention; Fi 2 is a` front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 1sa bottom plan view; Fig.,4: is a top plan view; Fig. 5 is a sectiontaken on line 5 5 of Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a front ele-.

vation of a second form of my invention; Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view ofthe device shown in Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a section taken on a planepassing through the longitudinal center of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, and especlally to Figs. 1 to 5, A is a kite,B is a keel extending along the lo member A, and C is a bridle connectedat its ends to the keel and at an intermediate point to a captive lineD. The keel 1s preferabl of a peculiar construction, decreasinggradually "from the lower end where 1t takes the form of a V-shaped rojection to a vanishing point at the top o the kite. In other words, atthe top of the kite tudinal center of the' there is little or nothing ofthe nature of a keel while, as the lower end is approached, a keel ofgradually increasing proportions rises from the front of the kite. Bythis arrangement the kite is guided in its travel -and a powerfulinfluence is exerted to maintain its longitudinal axis in a verticalplane. The keel need not, of course, extend throughout the entire lengthor height of the kite2 nor need it be triangular in crosssection. Suchan arrangement is, however, a convenient and natural one where thesimple and inexpensive mode of construction of the apparatus which Ihave illustrated is adopted. v

Inpthe apparatus as illustrated there isha suitable frame a of therequisite strength and lightness, a keel backbone I), and a covera. Thecover is stretched across the frame so as to be moderately taut exceptthroughout a longitudinal central panel, the portion forming this panelbeing preferably moderately taut at the top and becomin looser andlooser toward the bottom unti at the bottom, a degree of looseness isattained which permits the cover to be bellied out to a considerableextent. The corners of the panel are indicated byaz, a", a4, and a5,respectively. The keel backbone lies upon t-he longitudinal center ofthe central panel and is preferably secured thereto. By taking hold ofthe backbone itv may be moved in a plane'passing through the center ofthe kitel and at right angles thereto until the central portion of thecover is drawn into a tautridge which decreases gradually from the lowerend toward the u per end. This ridge forms the keel.v It willpbe seenthat the Iridge-like keel may be produced and maintained automaticallyin the act of iiying the kite by simply :tastenin the bridle to thebackbone of the keel. Vhen the kite is notl being flown the keelcollapses and leaves the device flat and capable of being entirelycollapsed in any suitable manner.

` It will then be seen that a prominent and highlyV effective keel isprovided without adding more weight to the kite than is due to theslightly increased amount of covering material necessitated by thefullness of the central panel. Moreover the entire cover may be appliedas a single piece, if desired, making production of the apparatus simpleand inexpensive. I prefer to cut the cover in a single piece so shapedthat when it is secured at the corners of the frame, the two sideport-ions will l'be stretched tightly while the central panel is leftloose as previously described. If desired the cover may be fastened to`the two frame members extending from a2 to a1 and from a3 to 0)?,respectively, since the keel will thereby be more sharply defined.

The frame is preferably so formed that it affords anchoringY points ata* and a'S respectively, and also so 'as to 'ermit the cover to besecured inplace along ines connecting the corner a2 with the corner a*and the corner as with the corner a5. The keel may thereby besharplydefined. Atie member E is preferably arranged between the corners a4 anda5 so as to prevent them from spreading and permitting the keel toflatten out under the strain to which it is subjected during the flyingof the kite.

In Figs. 6 to 8 I have shown a slight modification. The aeroplane Aandthe keel B are the same as in the other form except that a strip F isplaced upon the member A in rear of the keel so that the kite Viewedfrom the rear presents a continuous plane surface. This .forms a pocketG within the keel and, as this pocket might catch the wind and cause thekite to get beyond the control of the operator, I form an outlet. B2 inthe keel at a point between the ends thereof.

While I' have described in detail only those forms of my invention whichI now deem to be the most practical, I do not desire to be limited tothese specific forms since, in its broader aspects, my invention maytake various other forms as will be evident from the terms employed inthe definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by 2. A kite comprising an aerolane anda keel extending longitudinally t ereof, said keel having atriangular cross section atv the lower end of the aeroplane anddecreasing gradually in width and in height until itv vanishes adjacentto the'upper end of the aeroplane, and a bridle connected to vthe lkeelalong the center line thereof.

3. A kite comprising a frame, a cover secured to said frame so as toleave a' cent-ral portion increasing gradually in looseness from the toptoward the bottom, and a bridle arranged upon said central portion atthe longitudinal center line thereof.

4. A kite comprislng a frame, a cover secured to said frame so as toleave a central portion increasing gradually in looseness from' the toptoward the bottom, a stiffening rib extending down the center of saidcen' 6. A kite comprising a frame, a coverv secured to said frame so asto leave a central portion which at the top lies Vsubstantially taut inthe lane of the main portion and increases gra ually in looseness towardthe bottom, a stiiiening ribl extending along the longitudinal center ofsaid central portion, and a bridle secured to said rib.

7. Al kite comprising 'a frame, a cover secured to said frame so .as toleave a central portion which at the top lies substantially taut in theplane of the main portion and increases radually in looseness towardthe' bottom, a ridle secured to said central portion at the longitudinalcenterline thereof, and a tie member extending across thelower end ofsaid central portion, saidtie member bein shorter than the width of saidcentral portion at that point.

8. A kite comprising a fiat bod member anda hollow keel extendinglongitudinally thereof, said keel increasing gradually in size from avanishing point at the top of the body toward the bottom, and being openat the bottom, and having an opening through the front face between theends thereof.

9. In a kite, a framecomprising two arallel members and a cross member,a s eet secured to the ends of said members so as to form taut portionsoutside of said two .parallel members and a portion extending betweensaid parallel members and increasin graduallyin looseness from the toptowar the bottom, and a fourth frame member lying between and parallelwith said two parallel members and secured to the loose portion of saidsheet.

10. In a kite, a frame having at least six corners four of which formythe corners of a toward the other and the portions outside of therectangle taut, a stiffening member extend-l. ing lengthwise of andsecured to said loose portion at the center thereof, and a bridleconnected to said stiflening member.

11. In a k'te, a frame havin at least six corners, a cover secured tothe rame atsaid corners so as to leave a central portion which Intestimony whereof, I sign this specifielilitends over the nea bounded byfour of cation in the presence of two Witnesses. t e corners o gra uallyincreasing loosene'ss from one end toward the other, and the por- SILASJ CONYNL' 5 tions outside of said areaJ taut, and a bridle Witnesses:

connected to said loose portion along the WM. F. FREUDENREICH,longitudinal center thereof. HARRY S. GMITHER.

